A Christmas Gift
by FreakinGodzilla
Summary: Not long after Sarah successfully runs the labyrinth does she discover that she has the gift of sight, but how much of a gift is it really? A Christmas One-Shot.


**Merry Christmas, everyone!**

 **I haven't had much of a chance to really read over this for mistakes, so I hope you'll forgive me if you find any. I wanted to give you guys a little one-shot for a Christmas gift, this is what I came up with.**

 **As always, I really hope you guys enjoy it. The story image is 'Kallikantzaroi-Greek Christmas goblins'.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the labyrinth. Also, some of the events in this story are inspired by a few Folk Tales.**

* * *

The first Christmas after her journey through the labyrinth, Sarah realized she had the 'sight'. As she sat on the porch, toying with her newly unwrapped Christmas scarf, she'd been compelled to glance up.

A ball of light fluttered near the tree in her front yard. It's movements hurried and unsure as it dashed along the tree in a crooked pattern. Her pale green eyes were wide and refused to move from the wisp-like being. Pale hands stilled in their movements of twisting and pulled at the red scarf, still tangled in the fabric, and Sarah sharply inhaled through her nose.

The orb paused, and though there was no apparent face on the being, her skin prickled as the being seemed to pick up on Sarah's presence. Sarah froze as the wisp seemed to narrow its sight on her, and Sarah's body tensed, ready to bolt up the stairs if she needed to. Her gaze was fixated in awe and apprehension.

It shimmered sending off waves of heat, before it let out a shriek full of indignation. Sarah covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut, fear trickling down her spine. Her legs decided to finally come alive, and she shot up from the steps and hastily backed up until she felt the front door at her back. She paused, feeling a bit more secure in her position, and gave into the urge to peek at the affronted being.

The wisp was gone.

Sarah frowned and hesitantly pulled her hands from her ears. She was met with complete silence. A breeze blew through the empty yard, lifting leafs from their place on the flowing tree branches and swiftly blew them through the street.

She dropped her arms and frowned. Her body refused to relax from its rigid posture and her hand explored the door behind her for the handle. Finding it, she sighed in relief and clasped it firmly. Tugging it open, she hesitantly cast one last look into the vacant yard and shuffled inside, locking the door behind her.

The Christmas after that she had spent inside with the curtains drawn - a habit she had developed in the past year. Her father and step-mother had desperately tried to draw her outside, confused when Sarah had gladly used babysitting as an excuse _not_ to go to the park. It was odd how life had a way of turning ironic.

They'd eventually relented after asking Sarah countless times if she had fallen into a depression, which she had denied. Though it was obvious that staying indoors all day was taking a toll on her personality, but it was better to be safe than sorry, she reminded herself.

Sarah remembered when she had told her friends in the Underground about the wisp - the concerned image of their faces forever burned into her mind - and the warning they had given her to never let another being from the Underground know she had the 'sight'. She was doomed.

* * *

Friends birthday parties had become a game of Russian roulette. Never knowing if she was to stumble upon a fae, and when she did she spent the entire party going out of her way to avoid them and pretend like she couldn't see them. She envied her friends that could walk right through the fairy folk unknowingly as if they were nothing but mist.

"Sarah," her stepmother called from the other side of the door, "Why don't you come outside and play with Toby?"

"Uh, I don't know," Sarah said, holding another red scarf that she had received for Christmas this year. It looked exactly like the scarf she had the previous year - the one that had gone missing a month before…

"Oh, Sarah. You hardly go out anymore." Karen baited her, "You know how much Toby would like it…"

"Karen, Toby is _three_." Sarah sighed, "He doesn't know the difference."

Her stepmother was quiet for a moment, then she drawled, " _Okay_ , whatever you say."

Sarah rolled her eyes and dropped her scarf on her bed.

"Fine," she relented.

"Throw it to me, Toby." Sarah held up her hands.

Toby tottled over to her and shoddily threw a tiny red ball towards her. It missed her and bounced a bit on the grass near her shoes. She leaned over, grasped it, and gently threw it back to him, but Toby's interest in the ball was lost.

His gaze was focused on something over her shoulder.

Sarah frowned and peered over her shoulder only to freeze on spot. A fairy, much like the one she had seen in the labyrinth, was hovering over some of the flowers that framed the fence of their backyard. She turned back to Toby, only to find him no longer there. Instead, he was venturing over to the fairy, reaching out a small hand.

Many things went through Sarah's head. First, Toby had the 'sight', too. Second, she didn't want him anything near the creature. Third, she couldn't allow the fairy to know she saw it.

Sarah crept up to the scene. The unsuspecting fairy was hovering near a pink flower. Toby reached out, and Sarah barely kept herself from yelling out.

"Toby," she called, pretending not to notice the fairy.

He turned around and looked at Sarah, then turned back and pointed.

"Sawah, _flower_."

The fairy hovered away from Toby, not interested in the child. Sarah let out a breath of relief, realizing that was had piqued his interest was the flower and _not_ the fairy. Toby did not have the sight, which was a blessing.

"C'mon Toby," Sarah said and neatly swept him off his feet. He squealed in protest. "Let's go back inside and get ready for Christmas dinner." Sarah let them away from the fairy, avoiding it subtly. She still considered it a miracle it had never noticed her fear, the slight tremble in her slim frame, or the wavering of her voice as she had called to Toby.

* * *

The next Christmas came and went and the cycle repeated. Apprehension heightened as each year passed until one Christmas it hit it's climax. Sarah hadn't even ventured outside that Christmas, or that week. Finally, she realized that she no longer wanted to live in fear. She knew that if a fae figured out she had the sight she could have the sight taken away - or worse, struck blind completely - and never to see her friends from the Underground again, but she didn't want it to alter her Aboveground life.

She had missed part of her teenage life because of this - she wasn't about to miss her adult life too.

The thirteenth Christmas after running the labyrinth took a different turn. She was much more experienced by then. Sarah had learned how to avoid fae with expertise, even going so far as walking right next to them and maintaining a look of pure guilelessness. Though, the things she had seen over the years since she had allowed herself to finally step outside to experience life. Fae, she had discovered, absolutely _adored_ wreaking havoc and were responsible for many unfortunate things. Sarah shivered and pulled her jacket tighter around herself.

The train doors opened with a thunderous roll and Sarah was pulled from her train of thought. All eyes swung to the approaching passengers as they entered the subway, then glanced back down into their laps or off in a random direction to zone out once again. The newly approaching people trudged onto the subway with droll gazes upon their faces and a monotonous stroll. Two beings swept along the crowd without notice, their beady eyes bore little difference from the average overworked New Yorker. Their image flickered slightly - in and out of existence - and as their average businessman facade faded back into view, they simultaneously flinched, paused in their stride for exactly three seconds, adjusted their posture and continued to pile in with the crowd as if nothing had ever happened.

Sarah studied them from beneath her lashes. Her heart pounded frighteningly in her chest. She watched them carefully, noting that they had bothered to dress in casual winter attire, and examined the way the New Yorkers behaved around the two glamoured beings. Seeing that people regularly shuffled around them to make room, Sarah's shoulders immediately relaxed and she let out a breath of relieved air.

These ones were visible to everyone else, which meant it was considerably easier to ignore the couple than if they had been only visible to her. The 'good people' usually only meant trouble when they were invisible to everyone else… Usually.

Standing in stony silence, Sarah reluctantly scooted over to give the beings room. They shot her a thankful smile full of sharpened teeth; and it took every ounce of willpower in Sarah's body not to shiver, and against her body's natural response, offer them a kind smile in return. The two, thankfully, shifted their focus to each other.

Despite Sarah's earlier hesitation on having anything to do with the two beings, as one of them revealed a suitcase and began whispering to the other, she found her mind's focus entirely on them. As they conspired, Sarah found herself compelled to stand a bit closer to them, and shifted slightly to hear them better. She always had wondered, after all, just how immortals made conversation after seeing and hearing everything once before.

The subway shifted and jerked the passengers as it began to depart from the station. The two men winced and Sarah saw their glamour fizzle again.

 _Hmmm,_ she kept herself from frowning, _they must be new at this_. The younger ones - almost impossible to tell from the older immortals - were much more inexperienced with magic. Therefore, they were more dangerous if their guise was revealed. They tended to be much more…

Sarah tried to find the perfect word to describe it…

Jumpy.

Her sharp green eyes gave them a cautious sidelong glance, catching a glimpse of them fumbling about with a map of the subway station.

The one with the suitcase grunted and cursed. "How am I to understand this scribble?" He turned it upside down and Sarah had to refrain from giggling.

The other rolled his eyes and snatched it out of Suitcase Fae's - as Sarah had dubbed him - hands. "Now see…" He spoke to Suitcase Fae with a scheming whisper, "This is where I am to go, and _this_ ," He motioned to a spot on the map, "Is where you will go, I think... "

"I still don't understand this," Suitcase fae said. He turned to Sarah and she schooled her features. "You," he said, pointing.

Sarah feigned innocence. "Yes?"

"Could you tell me how to get to one of those lovely places where many women dance upon poles whilst you throw currency upon them?"

Sarah's eyes widened. She had never heard it put that way before. "Uh," she began, not sure how much trouble a fae could cause at a strip club. She pursed her lips. "Your friend was right." Sarah said and pointed to the same spot.

He gave her a crooked smile, his glamour shimmered, and Sarah only kept herself from wincing because of years of experience.

The subway slowed and the doors opened. Sarah thanked God above and hurriedly made her way off of the subway.

She'd made it to the park without incident - only stopping for a coffee. Wiping off snow, Sarah calmly perched on the park bench. It was made into a tradition for her. The years she was hesitant or unable to be with her family for Christmas, she took herself to the park and happily freed her mind. Often she would think about the labyrinth and lose herself in her imagination. She chose not to think much about the Goblin King, knowing it could either lead to infatuation or anger. The last thing Sarah needed was more drama in her life.

A frightful shriek bounced off the trees surrounding Sarah.

Fear twisted and curled in Sarah's stomach. She placed her coffee down on the park bench next to her. Her eyes explored the pathway and met a sight of a young woman sprawled just on the edge of it.

Sarah meant to rush over to the woman, but paused when she saw an ugly creature hovering over the woman. She found herself confused by the sight of the beast -furry, small, two legs and two arms, but not a goblin. Sarah had never seen the like of it before.

"Right," she muttered to herself, blinking and and relaxing her posture. "Just stroll down there, help the lady up and pretend you don't see it." Sarah blinked and watched as it held something metallic and thin up. Light bounced off of the object. Sarah squinted and studied it, then gasped when the monster swiftly brought it down into the woman.

The lady let out a shriek, flinched and grabbed her side.

Sarah glared at the horrible beast from where she stood. It seemed to take some sort of satisfaction from hurting unsuspecting mortals. Sarah had met many fae that revelled in pain much the same way. Usually, all it took was for a few people to crowd around the person until the fae became bored and wandered off for some other form of entertainment.

Sarah, deciding that this was the best course of action, narrowed her eyes at the beast and promptly stomped her way towards them. As she drew near, she schooled her features into innocent concern - portraying a naive woman that had no idea magical creatures existed.

The plan was successful. Her boots crunched the snow beneath her loud enough to alert the creature, and it scuttled away to hide behind a tree. She could still feel it's burning gaze as she approached the poor injured woman.

"Are you okay?" Sarah asked, kneeling down to help.

The woman was probably in her prime, Sarah realized as she studied her. Wrinkles and laugh lines more apparent on the woman's face. Sarah could tell, just by being this close, that the woman was not touched by magic and just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. "My side is cramping terribly," she cried.

"Let me see," Sarah said, hoping the beast that prowled behind the trees would lose interest soon.

The woman pointed to a spot on her flowery printed shirt. Unknowingly, her fingertip pressed against a sliver of metal on her torso. Sarah kept from cringing.

Sarah hesitantly reached down and pulled at it, ignoring the woman's gasp. Her eyes widened as her fingers tugged out the object from the woman's waist. "It's a needle," she whispered to herself, holding it up.

The woman remained oblivious to Sarah's statement. She smiled and sat up. "I don't know what you did, but the pain's gone," she said with a relieved tone.

"Uh," Sarah placed the needle on the ground next to her, realizing that the woman could not see it. "It's a trick my mother taught me for cramps. She was a masseuse." She lied. Sarah shrugged, stood up, and helped the woman up from the harsh ground.

After the lady profusely thanked her and made her way off, Sarah stood and studied the needle that lay near her shoe. With her foot she kicked it around and wondered if all sudden pains were a result of some unseen being. How cruel would that be if it were true?

"You can see me," a raspy voice choked out from behind her.

Sarah's hair stood up on her arms. She refused to allow herself to freeze on spot, however. Doing so would notify the creature that she had heard it's words. Ignoring the beast, she bent down and made to retie her shoe. While doing so, she debated on whether to hide, run or go on pretending it didn't exist.

"No use acting like you don't see me. I saw what you did, Sarah Anne Williams." It croaked.

Sarah tensed.

She slowly stood up. Setting her jaw and squaring her shoulders, she turned towards the beast. Sarah found she couldn't look at it straight in it's eyes. They reflected like a cat's would and were of an odd off orange color. Maintaining eye contact was proving to be the most difficult thing, so she looked at it right between the eyes.

"How do you know my name," she asked.

It laughed - or could have possibly growled - and Sarah was given a glimpse of it's sharp cavity riddled teeth. "Everyone knows _your_ name, they just didn't know if you had the _sight_. You were plenty good at hiding it until now, but the secret is out. I suppose I should thank you for error, now I will be held quite high in the eyes of my peers." It said.

Sarah narrowed her eyes at the thing. A tinge of indignation flared in the back of her mind. "You're quite articulate for such an ugly little beast," she bit back.

It let out another laugh and answered her without an ounce of offense. "You sound just like the King of the Goblins." She caught another glimpse of it's teeth and winced. "I like you a little bit, _Sarah Anne Williams_." It gloated. "I'll show mercy." Sarah frowned.

It raised it's hand. Long finger nails, yellow and brown with dirt, stretched out before her. She leaned away from it. The beast made a sweeping gesture. A blinding light flashed all around her - or was it just in her head? - and then the monster was gone.

Sarah was alone in the park.

She'd lost her sight, she discovered.

* * *

A year had passed and not a single otherworldly being she had seen. Sarah supposed what it meant by showing 'mercy' was that it wouldn't take away her eyesight, but only the magical ability to see other creatures. At first, she was elated.

Sarah had gone out and done things she had never dared to. She'd gone to clubs, went grocery shopping during Beltane, gone on dates without worry and even attended a ball her friend was hosting. Things that any other person took for granted Sarah could now do - and she was ecstatic.

That was, until she realized the drawbacks of such a thing. She was constantly looking over her shoulder. It was harder watching out for herself if she couldn't see what she was looking for. Eventually, she still ended up avoiding the same things she had before. Old habits die hard and all that.

But the worst part was when she had tried to contact her friends. They hadn't shown up. She had waited for hours, repeatedly calling them, until that little piece of hope in her chest had been crushed with overwhelming realization and tears. By the end of the year, she felt empty once again. In fact, she felt even worse than before. She had never made an effort to reach out to anyone else besides her Underground friends and now she was reaping what she sowed. Sarah found herself making desperate attempts to visit her family, even if it meant using up her vacation days and money to fly out to them constantly. She was lonely.

The next Christmas Sarah found herself visiting her father's house. They had openly welcomed her into their arms, and Toby had been especially welcoming when he'd gotten a glimpse of his presents in her car.

"Teenagers," Sarah sighed. A grin tugged at her lips.

She leaned over the side of the bridge, curiously glancing at how the stars reflected in the pond. After the Christmas festivities were over and done with, Sarah found herself heading up to her old bedroom with a spark of hope in her chest once more. As she had stood before her old vanity, she knew she had let that glimmer of hope take hold of her, and it was completely devastating when she called for her friends in her old mirror and was met with no answer.

The hope in her chest had plummeted. Sarah, feeling lonely once again, found herself exiting the house and wandering the streets. The concrete had been wet from the rainstorm that had passed through not too long ago and the air was chilly. She found herself back at the beginning - where it had all started - and felt the air shift into nostalgia around her.

The park was empty, but without the 'sight' she wasn't sure just how empty it _actually_ was. Her nails dug into the stone of the bridge. Pieces of loose rock flaked off.

Sarah gazed out over the motionless pond and for the first time uttered a certain phrase without regret. "I wish…" She closed her eyes and inhaled sharply. Sarah began again with more conviction, "I wish that the Goblin King would… would…"

 _Would what_ , she asked herself. What exactly did she want him to do? Offer her comfort? Not likely. Give her the sight back? Could he even do that and would she end up regretting it in the end?

It doesn't matter, Sarah decided, everything comes back to the labyrinth and if the sight would be her downfall, then so be it. "Offer me one last wish," she phrased it particularly. Sarah opened her eyes and turned around, scanning the park for any evidence.

Just as her eyes caught on a dark figure off to the side, she heard a voice. "You know, _dearest_ Sarah, I once told you that I move the stars for no one."

"Is that supposed to be an insult or a compliment?" Sarah said and turned towards the shadow.

The figure drew nearer, and as it's leg stepped out onto the stone bridge the moon exposed the face of a being Sarah hadn't seen in years.

"Take it however you wish," his thin lips said without even a hint of a smirk. She hadn't expected him to seem so humorless, Sarah realized. Seeing him now reminded her much of how he had appeared during their last confrontation. An underlying seriousness for reasons that she couldn't understand at the time.

"Still, you came." She said.

"I was curious," his tone was cold, "as to what more the champion of the labyrinth could want after all I have given her."

 _Here we go again_ , Sarah's mind chanted. "Please, explain then what you've given me."

His eyes glinted dangerously. As he stepped nearer, they appeared more grey than the usual blue, but Sarah was sure it was due to the dark grey hues his billowy shirt and tight pants were. "Haven't I?" He asked. "You were granted many things by me that no average human should be allowed. I've broken many rules for you, Sarah."

Suddenly, everything clicked in Sarah's mind. Her friends from the Underground had acted surprised that she'd had the power to continuously invite them into her room and interact with them, the first otherworldly creatures she had seen were goblins and the monster that had stolen her sight a year before had known _all_ about her.

"You did it," she accused. Sarah scowled and her fingernails bit into her palm. "You caused all of this."

"That is not the thanks I was hoping for, but I suppose that is the best I will get from you." The Goblin King crossed his arms.

"You gave me the sight." Her thick eyebrows pulled together in confusion, anger melting away revealing a woman that was simply trying to put together pieces of her life and the information she had just discovered. "Everything, the dangers I faced and the years of hiding away, was because of you."

"Consider it a present," Jareth said.

"No," Sarah stared at him. "No, that was a curse. That _present_ kept me from going to Homecoming, ruined half of my dates, put me in danger constantly and forced me to forgo normal things that normal people do."

"And yet you miss it," Jareth drawled, for the first time that night displaying a grin.

Sarah sighed. "I miss seeing my friends… I never wanted to be completely cut off from the Underground, but - _wait_ , how did you know I don't have the sight anymore?"

Jareth raised his eyebrows. "Simple, I am _allowing_ you to see me right now. I have to use magic to appear before you - _that_ is how I know." He uncrossed his arms and stepped closer to Sarah, peering down at her with his nose raised. "And… I am not ignorant to what goes on in my Kingdom, precious. Your friends were quite concerned when you stopped answering their calls." He said with an insincere tone of pity.

"And what did you tell them?" She asked, ignoring the way his body language seemed to crowd her. There was no room for her to back up, she'd be sent directly into the freezing pond beneath them.

"I told them that perhaps you had gotten tired of their company." His teeth glinted in the moonlight.

Sarah snarled.

He spoke before she could bite back a cold response. "Of course, that was before I had realized what had happened. You were quite lucky that hadn't been blinded... I suppose that is because of the reputation you carry, my _Champion_." The Goblin King leaned in closer to her. His scent overwhelmed her senses. Sarah had never smelled anything like it, it was enough to make her eyes uninhibitedly flutter and then close. She fought her body's reaction. "I could give the gift to you once again." He crooned and Sarah's nails bit deeper into her skin.

Jareth leaned in close enough to where his nose grazed her cheek. "Do you want it, Sarah?"

"You're trying to distract me," she said. Her voice was blank. The words came from her lips more like a simple statement than an accusation.

His breath flushed over the side of her neck. The warmth a sharp contrast to the cold winter breeze. Sarah felt like melting, but recognized this feeling as something that she should not give into with this man… No, this _fae_.

She inhaled sharply and sidestepped away from him, breaking their brief contact. Her mind cleared almost instantly. Sarah glared at him from a few feet away.

Jareth stood back. His posture was no longer frigid, nor was his face a heavy display of callousness. Jareth stood with a haughty smirk, his head tilted to the side with a knowing glint in his eyes.

Sarah was silent for a second, studying his sharp features that were highlighted in the moonlight. Then she spoke, "To be honest, I'm not sure if I should accept your gift again. Sometimes I wonder how my life would have turned out if I never had it."

"I could show you that, as well." Jareth said, and raised his hand with a quick twist. A crystal sat atop his gloved hand. The crystal twinkled as if agreeing with his statement.

She glared at him. "No, there's always some price with you. Regardless, it's always better not knowing." Sarah crossed her arms. " _If_ I accepted your present, and the sight was given back to me, what would be the cost?"

Jareth's eyes narrowed on her. His fingers closed over the crystal and it neatly shrunk and disappeared in his hand without resistance. He looked up in thought for a moment then gave her a victorious smile. "Since you've complained of your safety, would you accept my present if I were to offer you protection?"

"Protection." Sarah thought it over. "In what sense?"

"No other creature will be able to harm you in any sense-"

"You're not going to trick me and lock me in a tower, are you?" Sarah raised an eyebrow.

"Nonsense," Jareth seemed appalled. "All of my castle towers are occupied."

She rolled her eyes. "No," she said in a serious tone, "I will accept your gift of giving me the sight as long as there are no tricks - no whisking me away anywhere without my consent - and you offer me protection against _all_ things with bad intents… and by 'all' I mean also _you_."

Jareth's smile stretched far across his face. "Done." He said quickly and a glimmer of light sparked around them. It was gone before Sarah could think to blink to protect her eyes from the flash.

Sarah stared at him skeptically.

"Now," Jareth said, his voice wavered with barely suppressed excitement. "I shall escort you home." He offered her his hand.

She stared at it. He seemed too happy. "What are you doing?"

"My new job," Jareth said.

"I can walk myself home."

"Oh _no_ , Sarah." Jareth tsked, taking her hand in his and placing a kiss on her skin. His lips were warm and soft. Sarah blinked and glanced between her hand in his and his roguish grin. "We did not say that you could choose which time I will protect you. There are all sorts of dangers in this world of yours. Never a safe moment, I'm afraid."

Sarah spluttered. "What - How am I supposed to explain you being near me at all times?"

Jareth narrowed his eyes coolly at her. A look that said he had trapped his prey. "It is a good thing they don't have the sight like you do, isn't it, precious?"

Sarah scowled at him as his grip tightened on her hand.

* * *

 **There we have it. A kind of humorous, kind of dark and kind of romantic one-shot. Interpret it was you wish.**

 **Poor Sarah... She thought she was being clever and still got the butt end of the deal... Oh well, maybe prolonged time together will change her outlook on him.**

 **Thanks for reading! Hope you guys have a great Christmas - or Hanukkah - whatever you celebrate have a great one! :)**

 **Please tell me how you feel. I'm not going to pretend I still don't get nervous before uploading. Thanks guys!**


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